The present invention relates generally to traffic marker devices or safety cones used to alert or divert vehicles, pedestrians, and the like, and more particularly to a support base for a flexible marker safety device which self-positions to its original configuration, deviates from its original configuration due to natural or traffic-caused perturbations, and is restored to its original configuration from a deviated position in the event the aforementioned perturbations abate.
A traffic marker device of the type contemplated herein is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,760 to Garcia, which patent is herein expressly incorporated by reference. The safety cone disclosed in the Garcia '760 patent is highly utilitarian. However, one of the most difficult aspects of manufacturing such a device is the connection between the bottom part 142 of the marker portion 140, which comprises a conically shaped spring, as shown, and the base 110.
In one prior art approach, the base of such a marker device is molded of polyurethane or the like, and injection molded clips are utilized to attach the base end of the marker to a ring molded in the base. This is a relatively expensive product, because of the cost of polyurethane, plus the cost of the ring and the three clips, and because it is labor intensive.
What is needed is an improved, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture approach for connecting the body and the base of a flexible marker device of the type disclosed.